The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont.
This evening, the Cavalcade of America brings you the story of a man who has become to be
the symbol of the early days of the West, William S. Cody, Indian fighter, pony express
rider, buffalo hunter, and army scout, known best as Buffalo Bill.
This week is an especially appropriate time to do something about the appearance of your
car, because it is being observed throughout the United States as National Used Car Exchange
Week.
Dealers and manufacturers everywhere are presenting unusual inducements for you to drive a better
automobile by offering late model reconditioned cars at extremely low prices.
Here, too, chemistry plays a part by enhancing the value of good used cars, for many of them
are refinished and touched up with the same DuPont finishes with which they left the factory.
If you're keeping your present model, you can restore that showroom beauty and recapture
that original thrill of new car ownership by having it refinished at any one of the thousands
of refinishing stations in the United States that use DuPont finishes.
You'll find a new pleasure and satisfaction in the old bus when it blossoms out in a bright
new coat of Duco, Dulux, or Pyrolux finish.
As an overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra will play the ever popular
Wagon Wheels.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The DuPont Cavalcade moves forward.
William F. Cody was born February 26, 1846 in Scott County, Iowa.
When he was eight, a family migrated to Kansas.
The boy lived the adventurous life of the West of that day.
He herded cattle, hunted buffalo, rode Pony Express, and served as a private during the
Civil War.
In 1865, while visiting in St. Louis, he met Louise Federici, who was later to become his
wife.
We find them on the deck of an old Mississippi steamer on its way up the river to the town
of Leavenworth, Kansas.
The boat, which is tied up for the landing to take on wood for the boiler, is about to
depart.
Willow, darling?
Afraid?
Afraid?
What's there to be afraid of?
Oh, nothing, I guess.
Only now that we're married, you're coming away with me, I'm suddenly realizing what
I'm asking you to sacrifice.
What I asking?
Well, I'm taking you to a new life, asking you to face hardships, dangers, maybe, living
a wild, strange country away from everyone you've ever known or cared for.
I'll have you, won't I?
Well, yeah.
Well, I knew all the rest before.
Will, who are those men on the bank?
Oh, that's just a bunch of men unloading the cargo.
No, no, I don't mean those.
I mean the men on the horseback.
You see, they seem to be pointing at us.
Hey, Holger!
Hey, Ferguson's house, where is it?
Get him, somebody, get him!
Yeah, come on!
Lou, stand behind me, quick!
What is it?
Get back, quick, be quiet, don't move.
Oh, well, he's got a gun!
Missed me.
Lou, keep close behind me.
I don't want to shoot if I don't have to.
Don't stand there, please!
The boat's pulling out and they're riding away.
I don't believe they'll fire again.
Oh, Will, Will!
Firing up away from the dock now, I guess.
We're safe.
Fine advantage to take up a man when he can't take his gun and get down to face him.
Lou, what's the matter, darling?
It's all right now, darling, nothing to be afraid of.
I'm sorry.
Poor baby.
Who were they?
Some of Jesse James's gang.
I had a little trouble with them once before.
Jesse James?
The robber?
Yeah.
Lou, I'm sorry you were frightened.
I shouldn't have brought you out here at all this.
Oh, it's nothing.
I'll be all right in a minute.
Well, I wasn't expecting it.
Lou, darling, I want to ask you something.
Do you want to turn back?
Why, I...
Because, darling, if it's too much for you, if you think you aren't going to be able to
stand my life, I'll try to stand yours.
You see, honey, it isn't just because I like the free life that I want to come out here.
The world isn't big enough for everybody that's in it.
They've got to spread out, and they'll come this way.
You mean people will settle out here?
Hundreds of them.
Why, every day wagon trains start across the plains, and they're building railroads in
Kansas, and they need men who know the West to clear the path.
It's a wilderness now, but someday there will be towns out here as big as St. Louis.
Oh, Will.
It's true, darling.
In this country that I love, I'll be working for tomorrow, and I want you to help me.
But if you don't want to take the risk, we'll go back.
Well, sweetheart, what do you say?
Will, do you remember what the minister said when we were standing there, being married?
He said, give me the ring, and I couldn't find it.
No, no, I don't mean that.
I mean what he said about always being together.
Till death us do part.
Yes.
I remember that, Will.
Well, I meant that, Will.
I want to be with you, always.
So Will Cody went back to the West he knew and loved when he was first hired as a buffalo
hunter by the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
Hunting bison was a dangerous job which required great skill, but the animals were needed for
food.
Cody became famous for his ability and daring and won the nickname of Buffalo Bill.
Then Cody became government scout under General Sheridan and soon gained the rank of colonel.
He was taken captive by the Comanche Chief, Zatanta, and barely escaped with his life.
On the evening of his rescue, we find him in the log cabin, which was his home, holding
his baby daughter, Arta.
Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill, never misses and never will.
Always aims and shoots to kill and the company pays his Buffalo Bill.
Oh, Will, what a ridiculous little boy.
Well, they wrote it about me and I think my daughter should hear it.
Look, she liked it.
Down to sleep.
Sleeping just as sound as though she hadn't almost been left an orphan.
Oh, Will, I'm still shaking as a thought of it.
When they came down from the fort to tell me you'd escaped with Zatanta and the Denver
gym and its men rescued her when the Indians were right at your heels.
Well, it's the worst scare you've given me yet.
If Denver gym hadn't found you on the day...
Right, a bit of dead scout.
Right in that mule, I didn't have a chance.
And that's positively the last time I go scouting on a donkey.
Well, sir, you...
Golly, I'm tired.
You must be dead for sleep.
Go to bed now, Will.
What is that?
It's calling.
I guess they're coming down from the fort.
Cody, open the door.
That's Regan.
Let him in, mama.
All right.
Hello, Tom.
Injuns, Bill.
Comanches and Kyle was on the path again.
General Hazen wants you to take word to General Sheridan at Fort Hayes.
Fort Hayes?
Well, you can't do it.
Well, you're exhausted and they're 65 miles away.
Let one of the other scouts go.
Well, the chief put it out to them.
Nobody wants to.
It's pretty hostile country and Sheridan's got to have the dispatchers by morning.
So Zatanta's had it in earnest, huh?
Well, here, take the baby room.
Well, you're worn out.
You mustn't go out out in this storm.
He's the only man who can do it, Mrs. Cody.
Please.
Well, I'll tell you, honey, I'll go over and make General Hazen a proposition.
I am pretty sleepy, but I'll go if he gives me a horse.
I don't propose to be chased again today by Indians while I'm riding the government mule.
So Will Cody rode all night through the storm, carrying the dispatcher.
Twice he was thrown from his horse, but he persisted and we find him early next morning.
Come on, lady, come on.
Nearly there.
Just a little more and we'll get some food and some sleep.
Oh, who's there?
Colonel Cody, messages from General Hazen at Larned.
Well, you can either, Colonel Cody.
I've got to see General Sheridan immediately.
Oh.
Come in.
Well, if it isn't Buffalo Bill himself.
Come in, Colonel Cody, come in.
Here, just in time for breakfast.
I brought dispatchers from General Hazen.
Well, get to the fireman.
He must be frozen.
Let me see.
Ta-ta.
It's bad business.
Colonel Cody.
Yes, General Sheridan?
I'm in serious straits.
These orders must go to Fort Dodge at once.
Fort Dodge is 95 miles from here, General Sheridan.
And you've been traveling all night.
But I haven't a scout capable of making the trip.
You know the country.
You eyes like field glasses.
It's a lot to ask of you, I know.
The only stop is Coon Creek.
Can I get a fresh horse there?
Horse?
Sure.
There's a troop of cavalry stationed there.
Well, if you're sure of that, I'll go.
Thank you, Colonel Cody.
It's risky.
Oh, I don't mind the risk, General.
I'll just be jiggered if I'll do any more scouting on a government mule.
At 10 o'clock that night, Colonel Cody arrived at Fort Dodge
to learn that there had been another Indian outbreak on the Arkansas River near Fort Larnat.
Again, he was the only scout who would undertake the trip back across the prairies
to Fort Larnat and carry the warning.
After a short sleep, he reports to the commanding officer.
Now, if you'll let me have a horse, I'll be on my way, sir.
Colonel Cody, we haven't a horse available.
I have to give you a mule.
What?
I'm sorry.
Then I don't make the trip.
I won't ride one of those con-sarned things again.
But Colonel Cody...
No, no, that's not.
I'll ride no mule.
The outbreak on the Arkansas River is extremely violent.
General Hazen must be notified at once.
Wha...
Well, bring on your mule.
I'll take just one more chance.
And so on a government mule, Colonel Cody started back again toward Fort Larnat.
The animal was hard-mouthed and stubborn, and riding him was very difficult.
At the end of the first 30 miles,
Cody dismounts to get a drink of water at Coon Creek.
Whoa, whoa, you brute!
I want to get a drink.
Come on, you.
I can crack the ice. I'll give you a drink, too.
Whoa, whoa, stand still!
Whoa, whoa, you blasted animal!
Wait till I get you. Wait, son!
Whoa! Whoa!
From Coon Creek back to Fort Larnat, the last lap was 30 miles.
Cody made it on foot following the mule, which kept just ahead of him all the way.
As the sun rose, Cody entered the gates of the fort, having traveled 350 miles in 54 hours.
Sentry, hello! Hello there!
Yeah.
Did you see that blasted mule?
He came in just ahead of you, Colonel. Did he run away?
Did he run away? Did he run away?
Cody, we thought you were a scout.
Scout, scouting, I've been playing tag with a jackass.
Give General Hayes and these dispatchers,
and tell him to congratulate Fort Hayes on having the toughest, meanest mule in the United States Army.
I'm going to bed.
Well, Cody, they chased the command ship south of the Arkansas,
but there are more emergency messages for General Sheridan.
You'll have to go back to Fort Hayes with him.
Fort Hayes?
Well, I won't need any sleep at all once I get the hang of it.
All right, Regan, get me a horse.
I'm sorry, Cody, but there aren't any horses.
General Hayes suggested that since it's an emergency, you might ride a government mule.
A government mule?
And a race!
As the years passed, Colonel William Cody, Chief of Scouts,
became one of the great dramatic figures of the West.
He was a justice of the peace, then a state legislator,
but he remained at heart Buffalo Bill the Plainsman.
Finally, there came a demand that he go east to appear on a dramatized version of the days of the Old West.
For the success of these appearances came the idea of the Wild West Show.
We find him in conversation with Mrs. Cody, little Johnny Baker, a boy of whom he was extremely fond,
and Major John Burke, his devoted press agent.
Maybe I've brought you out here on a wild goose chase, Major Burke,
but the idea of a Wild West Show has got me.
I can't sleep nights for thinking about it.
Well, the public certainly like you, and the Western players.
In things. Shucks running around on a two-by-four stage pretending to shoot Chicago Indians who fell down before the gun went off.
That's no way to give the folks an idea of the West.
I want to give them a real show, Major.
Riding marksmanship. Blasphemy.
I want them to see the West as it used to be, with Indians holding up the stagecoach and scouts chasing them.
But you can't do that on a stage, Colonel Cody.
You said anything about a stage. I'm not going to use any stage.
Oh, you're going to have an attempt like a circus?
No, no, Johnny. Tent it before the bullet holes. No time.
I'm going to have it right outdoors.
Canvas side walls, maybe, but plenty of room for the horses.
A place where we can really ride. Round up buffalo.
Sounds wonderful, Bill, but sort of impossible.
Nothing's impossible.
I could gather together a show like that in a month.
Where'd you get your Indians? Right here.
No more of that back East kind.
I can go out to the Pine Ridge Indian Agency today and get all I want.
Chase the stagecoach, do their dances.
You'd want a real stagecoach.
And I can get a real one. The old Deadwood stagecoach. It was held up so many times.
It was full of holes to see it.
I got a new one now. I can buy that old one cheap.
Will, it'll be wonderful. Can I go along, Colonel Cody?
Go along?
Sure, Johnny.
You're going to be the champion boy shot of the world.
A champion? Sure.
You have the makings of the champion.
Why, we got a whole show already. You and little Missy.
You mean Annie Oakley, that girl?
Annie Oakley may be only a girl, but she can shoot.
She came to me when she was with the circus and begged me to give her a trial, and she's good, Bert.
She's good. She's pretty, too.
The men like her for that.
Yes, and the women will like her, because seeing her will help them get over being scared at the sound of shooting.
We'll put her on early and catch their interest.
It's not a shame of her.
We can get the performers, we can get the stars, we can get the Indians, we can get the horses.
There's just one thing more we've got to get, or the whole thing's a bust.
What's that, Colonel?
You.
Me?
That's right, you, Major Bert.
My way of thinking, you're the best publicity man in the world.
And if I can't have you for advance agents, the deal's off.
Why, I...
It's a gamble, I know it. These little shows have been different.
But this, oh, I'm asking you to take a risk, Bert, and I haven't any right to do it.
Colonel, I want to tell you something.
First time I ever saw you, I thought you were the handsomest, straightest, finest man I'd ever seen in all my life.
I still think so.
When it comes to telling the world, it'll be a pleasure.
There's nothing I'd like better, Colonel, than to make Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show the greatest show on earth.
And so, held by Major John Burke, the most famous press agent of his day,
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was formed and grew greater and greater.
It played triumphantly at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 to six million people.
But Cody the showman was forced to yield once more to Cody the scout.
Out in Nevada, there was a Sioux uprising.
With General Miles, Cody hurried westward.
But before they arrived, there had been the historic fight at Wounded Knee.
General Miles immediately called the great council.
I'm sorry you didn't get here sooner, Cody.
Battle at Wounded Knee was a massacre. I believe you could have prevented it.
Yeah, the Indians would have listened to me, I think.
Well, it's too late now. The important thing is to prevent another like it.
We've got to hold these Indian braves, who are prisoners, as hostages,
so that the Indian wars are over forever.
It's time for the council. Call them to assembly.
Hello, call me Aupo.
He's short-bowled now, he's driven to the horn cloud.
Hello, Koona. What's the Fahaska?
Hello, short-bowled.
Hello, Koona.
Good morning.
I, Fahaska, your friend, want you to listen.
Fahaska speaks.
The Indian wants peace. Fight men want peace.
Fahaska speaks the truth.
Me, horn cloud, speak for short-bowled.
He want only peace. Our braves are dead. Our squaws are dead.
Our chiefs are captive.
Short-bowled, he say, fight no more.
Now he's silent.
Short-bowled is silent.
And it's too late to bring back those braves who are dead.
But the white man would dwell with you now in peace.
To make sure there is no more war, your braves stay with us.
If your promise fails, their lives are forfeit.
Fahaska, you say like that.
What do they say, horn cloud?
Chief say they will come with you, Fahaska. Live with you.
No, no, you don't understand. Not with me, not with Fahaska.
Well, why not? You're the logical person to take them, Colonel Cody.
Keep them with you. Take them to Europe with your wild west show.
Horn cloud, who would go with me over the waters to strange countries?
Very kind Fahaska.
Long live Fahaska.
Well, many would go, Fahaska.
Kicking bear, black heart, long wolf and short bull.
Short bull, huh?
All right, General Miles, I'll accept your offer.
If you follow the path of peace, I give you my promise.
I will take your braves with me and I will be kind to them.
Bring them back to you safely.
Horn cloud, tell your braves these chiefs go with Fahaska as a sign that fighting between the white man and the red man is ended forever.
I officially place these men in your charge, Brigadier General Cody.
Brigadier General.
That title still sounds funny to an old Indian fighter like me.
It's a tribute to a man who symbolizes the great west of the past, Cody.
You've made this day possible. This day and this pipe of peace.
Don't you want to be called Brigadier General?
No, yes. I'm proud as a strutting peacock, would you say it, in front of the boys?
Well, when we're alone, General, I think I'd rather you just say, Buffalo Bill.
Music.
In Cody, Wyoming, a bronze statue of him has been erected and a museum holds his guns, his gay coats, his broad brimmed hats, and his silver mounted bridles, preserving to America the memories and traditions of the dangerous, thrilling days when the west was young.
DuPont salutes this era by paying tribute to Buffalo Bill, brave leader in the cavalcade of America.
Many of us remember that back in the days of Buffalo Bill, a favorite spring tonic was sulfur and molasses.
Today, chemistry uses sulfur in making hundreds of products for your comfort and convenience. It goes into sprays that protect our food crops from insects.
It helps give raw rubber the toughness needed for tires and countless other articles.
When burned in air, sulfur dioxide is formed, and this gas is used to give cotton and other fabrics a snowy whiteness.
In compressed form, sulfur dioxide serves as a refrigerant.
The principal use of this gas is in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, an important DuPont product.
Sulfuric acid is often called the king of chemicals because such great quantities are consumed in making so many other articles of daily use.
Sulfuric acid is what enables the storage battery of your car to supply power for the lights and self-starter.
It is used in refining petroleum and in making fertilizers, commercial explosives, paper rayon, and colorful dyes.
Every woman who owns an Organdy dress can thank sulfuric acid because that is what gives Organdy fabric its permanent crispness.
For years, great deposits of sulfur lay embedded deep under the earth's surface in Texas and Louisiana, out of the reach of man because no one knew how to mine it.
Then a chemist named Herman Frasch said to himself, if we can't go to the sulfur, we'll make the sulfur come to us, and that's exactly what he did.
Frasch developed a method whereby a large pipe is driven into the ground with smaller pipes inside it.
Hot water, steam, and compressed air are then forced into the deposit, melting the sulfur and forcing it to flow as a liquid to the surface.
The sulfur then solidifies and is ready to serve many industries.
Had it not been for the ingenuity of this chemist, the valuable deposits of sulfur in our gulf states might still be lying untouched,
thus forcing American industry to rely upon foreign countries for this vital substance that helps so much to realize the DuPont pledge, better things for better living through chemistry.
The story of Captain Robert Gray, American navigator whose discovery of the Columbia River gave the United States one of its strongest claims to the Oregon Territory,
those lands which now make up the three states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, will be the subject of our broadcast when next week at this same time,
the DuPont again present the Cattlecade of America.
This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.